Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s conspicuous absence from Oprah Winfrey’s star-studded birthday party sends the clearest signal yet that US opinion is turning against the Sussexes, says one royal commentator.
Oprah’s star-studded party included the likes of Kim Kardashian, Jennifer Lopez and Sharon Stone.
It remains unclear why Harry and Meghan missed the event, but there’s a growing perception that US opinion is turning against the couple.
Recent polling by Newsweek dealt a stinging blow to the Sussexes, with Meghan found to be less popular among Americans than Camilla, Queen Consort.
Backlash: Harry and Meghan’s absence from Oprah’s birthday party has sparked speculation (Image: Getty Images)
The data was gathered from 2,000 eligibility voters six days after the publication of Prince Harry’s memoir, Spare.
The comparison with Camilla is striking for two reasons.
First, Americans have tended to view Camilla unfavourably, blaming the Queen Consort for the breakdown of King Charles and Princess Diana’s marriage.
The Crown fed into this negative perception by focusing on the dynamic, albeit in a fictionalised way.
Secondly, Harry was critical of Camilla, his stepmother, in his memoir and the interviews around it.
Harry accused her of leaking stories about him to fuel her public rehabilitation as she went from “the other woman” in Charles’ first marriage to his wife and the Queen Consort.
Harry, 38, wrote in Spare: “I had complex feelings about gaining a step-parent who, I believed, had recently sacrificed me on her personal PR altar.”
The Duke did not fare much better in the polling, with his favourability rating dropping 45 points from +38 in December to -7 in January.
Nile Gardiner: The failure of Harry and Meghan to attend the party reflects campaign is backfiring (Image: Getty Images)
Overall, 44 percent of Americans surveyed in the poll said they felt Harry should not have revealed private family conversations in Spare, compared with 26 percent who backed the prince’s decision.
Anecdotal evidence also suggests US opinion towards the Sussexes is souring.
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s recent “whingeathon” has led to dwindling support in the US, according to a royal author Valentine Low, who has just returned from a trip stateside.
The ‘Courtiers’ author has said conversations on the ground support polling data indicating Americans are growing tired of the Sussex narrative.
“I get the impression, having been in the States, they have lost some of that popularity,” he told Express.co.uk, describing their accounts of life in the Firm as a “whingeathon”.
Low was in the US promoting his book ‘Intrigue, Ambition and the Power Players Behind the House of Windsor’, at the time.
The journalist broke the story about the allegations Meghan bullied royal staff before they left the UK in 2020.
These claims were strongly denied by the Sussexes.
Source: EXPRESS CO UK
